Take Me Somewhere Nice
by Speedwagon
Summary: Tonio finds himself serving one last customer after hours, but it's certainly no one he was expecting. ((Very light TonioxOkuyasu))


A chilly rain was pouring outside in the darkness of the late night, leaving the warmth of the small restaurant even more inviting than usual. Not a soul was outside save for a single stray dog, the grey mangy thing having been sitting in the inky blackness a bit away from the entrance of Trattoria Trussardi for nearly two hours now. Having been busying himself with cleaning, he figured the hound would have left, but no, there it stayed, almost as if waiting for someone. Tonio couldn't help but find it more than odd, watching the hungry and lonely creature sit there in the pouring rain. Tossing his dish rag over his shoulder, he took a quick glance around the empty dining room. He hadn't had a single customer that day, not to mention he had closed shop creeping up upon three hours ago now. Wouldn't be wrong maybe trying to see if he could do something about the dog, right?

Umbrella in one hand and a plate of bones and scraps in the other, he stepped out into the rain, feeling a twinge of gratitude that he thought to put a coat on as well before he came out. Making his way to the dog, the chef stopped several feet away from the animal and crouched down to set the plate down at his feet.

"Shhh, it's alright." He smiled softly, gesturing to the soaked lone hound. "Vieni qua, cucciolo… I brought a treat for you." Reaching down, Tonio grasped one of the bones and tossed it over, the dog taking a few curious sniffs before snatching it right up. Chuckling lightly, he tossed the rest of the contents of the plate to the stray before it finally ran off, the Italian hoping for some shelter from the rain. Taking up the plate, the chef moved to stand when he saw someone else coming up in the distance, yet another lone figure in this bitter weather.

When he finally came up and stopped a short distance away from the chef did he finally realize who it was. Standing there in just a hooded jacket over his normal school uniform and looking as if he had stopped caring about being drenched long ago, was Okuyasu Nijimura.

"…I… can't sleep." it took him a few moments of silence to finally break it again. "And I… shit, I'm sorry…"before he could finish, Tonio closed the space between them both and brought the teenager under the umbrella, saying nothing as he simply led him into the warmth of the restaurant. He didn't even need to ask as the chef went into the back and brought back a few towels for the soaked Okuyasu to dry off a bit, having assumed he had walked all the way there through the storm.

Pulling his coat off and taking the towels with a nod of thanks, he began to dry off. It looked as if he had been in bed and just thrown clothes on and come over, the teenager's hair down and unstyled for once, the look of sleepless exhaustion lingering in his eyes. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here, I couldn't sleep so I wouldn't have cared about the walk either way." He shrugged some as he took a seat at one of the empty tables, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes. "Sorry about keeping you late, man… but I really appreciate this."

"Ah, it's no problem." He gave a bit of a warm smile as he took the towels once he dried off. "I haven't had a customer today, so I don't mind staying late if it means I can cook and help someone out, especially if that someone is a friend." Serving him his finest mineral water as well as a cup of steaming tea, Tonio gave the student a pat on the shoulder before he stepped towards the kitchen. "I'll be right back. You just relax, bambino."

In the meantime, Okuyasu worked away at both the tea and the water, glad Josuke wasn't there to tease him that drinking tea was gay. As he did, he felt his body slowly ridding itself of his collection of ailments. Cupping the nearly empty porcelain glass with both hands, he stared down at the bottom with a bit of a tired sigh. Shit… Tonio might be good, but there were just some things he figured he couldn't fix.

Before long, the Italian returned with a plate of stuffed mussels arranged beautifully just as always. "Here we are… to start off, Cozze al Pomodoro to help with your back pains. Those mussels were caught just this morning and I picked all the herbs myself from my personal garden." He gave a slight bow, looking proud as always of his culinary deliveries.

"Holy shit, this looks awesome!" he seemed to perk right up at the sight of hot food, Okuyasu going right for the shellfish and eating through it all. The act would repeat through each course, Tonio bringing out Italian dish after dish leaving the once tired teenager feeling slowly more and more healthy and refreshed with each course he devoured. By the end, he was stuffed and looking much more like himself than a tired waterlogged husk. Tonio brought out dessert and coffee, just a simple tiramisu accompanied with a hot cappuccino. Surprisingly enough, he carried two servings of each on the tray, setting both out on the table before he sat down to join the teenager.

"You're looking much better." He commented as he took a small bite of his dessert, watching as Okuyasu took a much larger one. Grinning wide, Okuyasu flicked his tongue over a stray bit of crème left on the corner of his mouth. "Oh hell yeah! I feel awesome, much better now!" he took another bite, though there was something in his gaze that he tried to cover up, the chef quickly picking up on it. He knew he hadn't missed anything… but perhaps he had another ailment that Pearl Jam couldn't fix, something a bit deeper.

"Hm… but is something else the matter though? My food can do many things, but there are some illnesses that words can heal far better." He gazed at the other through the steam of his coffee after he took a small sip. Things went quiet for a few moments, Okuyasu thinking over what to say. He went through several bullshit lies in his mind before he settled on just the truth.

"It's uh… it's my dad, that's all. He's… sick, and it hurts him sometimes. It gets kinda hard to take care of him when he's in pain, there's not much I can do. It's not something that can be fixed or anything." He was surprised in himself that he opened up like this. Well whatever, it was out in the open now, not much he could do but just roll with it and hope Tonio didn't think he was some whiney bitch for talking about his problems.

"I see. I'm sorry to hear about his suffering, I only hope that he will have better days. You're a good son for caring for him, even if it is difficult." The teenager said nothing in response, just staring into the bottom of his soon to be empty cappuccino cup before finishing it off. The Italian spoke again. "If you ever need to come again like this, my doors are always open to you. I'll do what I can to lighten your burdens." He gave a warm smile as he moved to stand, taking the empty dessert dishes and cups from the table, Okuyasu still looking quiet and a bit distant as he moved to take his coat.

Disappearing into the kitchen, Okuyasu left the payment for the meal on the table and was just about to leave when Tonio came out once again. Holding a small neatly wrapped box in his hand, he held it out to the other with a smile. "Here, extra tiramisu for your father. Best of wishes."

Staring at the box, Okuyasu's eyes started to sting with tears, which he was quickly trying to hide. "Y-yeah, thanks whatever!" he grabbed the box and turned his back just in time, his cheeks now hot and red as a few tears rolled down his face. "Y-you're… you're a really good friend, Tonio!" was all he could get out, still clutching the box close as he burst out through the door, too embarrassed by his sudden outpouring of emotions to stay for much longer.

It looked as if the rain had finally let up. At least the walk home would be nice.


End file.
